Diedrich Willers
Letter (1830)

D. Michael Quinn,
trans. and ed., "The First Months of Mormonism: A Contemporary
View by Rev. Diedrich Willers," New York History 54 (July
1973):317-33.

1830 LETTER OF REV. DIEDRICH WILLERS

Reverend Brethren

The greatest fraud of our time in the realm of religion is
certainly Joseph Smith, the alleged translator of a book
entitled:
"The Book of Mormon, an account written by the hand of Mormon
upon plates taken from the plates of Nephi wherefore it is an
abridgment of the record of the people of Nephi and also of the
Lamanites written to the Lamanites which are a remnant of the
house of Isreal [Israel] and also to Jew and Gentile written by
way of commandment and also by the spirit of prophesy and of
revelation. Written and sealed up and hid up unto the Lord that
they might not be destroyed to come forth by the gift and power
of God unto the interpretation thereof; sealed by the hand of
Moroni and hid up unto the Lord, to come forth in due time by
the way of Gentile the interpretation thereof by the gift of God
an abridgment taken from the book of Esther [Ether]--also which
is a record of the people of Jared which were scattered at the
time the Lord confounded the language of the people when they
were building a tower to get to heaven which is to shew unto the
remnant of the house of Isreal [Israel] how great things the
Lord has done for their fathers and that they may know the
covenants of the Lord that they are not cast off forever and
also to the convincing of the Jew and Gentile that Jesus is the
Christ the eternal God manifesting himself unto all nations.
And now if there be fault it be the mistake of men wherefore
condemn not the things of God that ye may be found spotless at
the judgment seat of Christ."

The publication of the above work of deception stems from a
speculation which is intended to benefit the financial interests
of the publisher and those who are allied with him. Like
deceivers of earlier centuries, this man claims to associate
with spirits and angels. Because the plates from which the
original was translated, according to the allegation, were of
gold, in the region hereabouts this book is known by the title
"The Golden Book." Since this work was printed in this region,
I want to inform you of the following, according to the most
credible reports:

1) The history of the origin of the book.

In the month of July [in 1829], Joseph Smith made his
appearance in Seneca County, in the neighborhood of Waterloo,
about six miles from my hometown. There a certain David Whitmer
claimed to have seen an angel of the Lord, so Smith proceeded
to his house, in order to complete the translation of the above
work himself. According to the reports, only there could he
work--where men who have had association with the other world
also reside. This is the eleventh place where he had worked on
the translation of his work and where men saw angels.

He asserted that the angel of the Lord appeared to him and
made it known that in the neighborhood of Palmyra there were
golden plates in the earth, upon which was described the doings
of a Jewish prophet's family, associated with many not yet
fulfilled prophecies. The angel indicated that the Lord
destined him to translate these things into English from the
ancient language, that under these plates were hidden
spectacles, without which he could not translate these plates,
that by using these spectacles, he (Smith) would be in a
position to read these ancient languages, which he had never
studied, and that the Holy Ghost would reveal to him the
translation in the English language. Therefore, he (Smith)
proceeded to Manchester township, Ontario County, and found
everything as described, the plates buried next to the
spectacles in the earth, and soon he completed the translation
of this work.

Upon receiving this report, I hurried immediately to
Whitmer's house to see this man, in order to learn the actual
source of this story and to find out how it might be possible to
nip this work in the bud. However, I received the reply from
Whitmer's father that Smith had already departed to take his
translation to press. I tried to expose the clumsy deception to
this man, and he was silent about Smith's pretension, which is
such that it is not worthy of refutation.

Since last year all of the neighboring congregations have
been frequently and earnestly warned to beware of this so-called
Golden Book [Book of Mormon] and not to buy any. The
above-named Smith, however, found his followers. The security
had been given to the printer for the payment of his work, and
about 10,000 copies of the book have been printed, which are
supposed to be sold for $1.75 each. Already in this region more
have been sold than one would have expected, and the unbelieving
and godless vermin have now gone to Pennsylvania in order to
scatter their books among the public. The author has already
been frequently challenged to demonstrate his inspiration, as
did the Apostles, through genuine miracles. Naturally he cannot
perform such. His followers, however, claim that through their
preachers devils have been cast out recently. It goes without
saying that this is allowed only in the presence of their own
followers. The dear Savior has already pronounced their
judgment for such false exorcists. Matthew 7:22-23.

2) Various weighty volumes could be written against the
contents of this book which consists of 588 pages. The style is
so insipid and wretched that even men of mediocre intelligence
can recognize it. It is nothing more than a tempting work of
man. I have read only a little of it and would wish to be
excused from this effort, but it is the express request of my
congregations which have obtained it for me so that I could read
it.

The first two books are called the book of Nephi and
describe the family of a so-called prophet Lehi (about whom the
Bible tells us nothing) and his four sons Laman, Lemuel, Sam,
and Nephi. They are represented as descendants of Joseph who
lived during the reign of Zedekiah, King of Judah. It is said
that Lehi saw God in the heavens which had been opened unto him.
(John 1:18; 4:24). This Lehi (elevated to the status of a
prophet by man) prophesies concerning John the Baptist, that he
would baptize at Bethabara and that the Messiah should be
baptized by him. The author must not yet have learned that
prophecies deal with future things, and that something which
happened 1,800 years ago can no longer be a prophecy in this
year, because it deals with the past. Nephi (the created
prophet) even affirmed that in his own time he had seen in the
heavens Mary the mother of the Savior with the child Jesus in
her arms. Such false prophecies contrast with the prophecies
throughout the Bible: 1) that they make prophecies about things
which have already occurred, 2) that they have too much clarity
which God according to his wisdom reserved for the bible
prophecies, so that either men, as they seek to fulfill these
same prophecies, do not give the honor of the fulfillment to
themselves, which belongs alone to God the highest, or men try
to subvert them, and thereby induce the Almighty to perform
miracles where natural means would have sufficed.

According to God's command, this prophet's family departed
Jerusalem so that they would not experience the coming
destruction of Jerusalem by Nebukednezzar [Nebuchadnezzar], and
to live for awhile in the desert. Shortly after, Nephi and his
brothers travel again back to Jerusalem and bring Ishmael and
his family back to their father Lehi. Ishmael, Abraham's son,
however, must have been 1,800 years old by the time of King
Zedekiah. The Bible certainly would not have concealed so great
an age from us, since it established Methuselah as the oldest
man. It says much more about Ishmael (Genesis 23), that he died
when 137 years old and was gathered to his people. According to
the history of the world, the Arabians in the 13th Century were
the discoverers of the compass needle, but according to Nephi's
book, God himself gave this family a compass in order to lead
them across a great sea to the promised land.

As a punishment, God is supposed to have given the
Lamanites a black skin, because they did not want to follow the
Nephites. Prior to this they had been white and delightsome (as
Asiatics). According to this assumption the origin of the
Blacks would come from Laman, one of Nephi's brothers whom God
had given a black skin because of his godlessness, and yet so
many reasons exist to conclude that the origin of the Blacks
came from Ham the son of Noah.

According to page 65 of the Book of Mormon, human
reproduction was a result of the Fall; consequently, if Adam and
Eve had not sinned, according to this principle, they would have
had no children. The author in his blindness must have never
read Genesis 1:28. Moreover, he maintains that if the Fall had
not occurred, the animal creations would have been [illegible]
and that they would have remained in their original condition,
thus incapable of propagating themselves. The last refutation
in Genesis 1:22 concerns the everlasting life of animals. The
holy scriptures describe the death of man as a result of the
Fall, and it is recognized that without the Fall the body of man
would have remained in immortality. Never, however, do the holy
scriptures mislead one to conclude that the death of animals
resulted from the Fall.

In chapter 8 of the book of Moroni, a letter of his father
Mormon is presented. To begin with, he writes that the Holy
Ghost instructed him that children were wholesome, needing no
baptism (Romans 3:12) and that those who claim that child
baptism is necessary were filled with bitter gall and were
without faith, love, and hope; and those who believe in child
baptism must be consigned to hell. The holy scriptures,
however, never prescribe damnation for belief in any kind of
baptism, but instead for disbelief. (Mark 16:16). The
scriptures also never assert that faith, love, and hope are
fruits of the baptism of adults, but instead maintain that they
are the fruits of the gospel and of the Holy Ghost (John 20:31;
Romans 10:17; Galatians 5:22). When he writes that infant
baptism invalidates the Atonement of Christ, then the Apostle
Paul makes him (Mormon) a false teacher (Romans 6:3), who writes
that everyone who is baptized unto Jesus Christ is baptized unto
his death.

I have read only about 100 pages in the Book of Mormon.
The author, now established as a prophet through the
transmission of his nonexistent plates, wants to elevate his
book to the status of a canonical work through which the Spirit
of God is revealed to men. Even with this he is not satisfied,
but introduces a second Bible, and thereby expects it to be
acknowledged that the Word of God is not complete. Moreover, he
threatens damnation upon all who do not believe in his false
bible. We must with the Apostle Paul await this curse upon
such: Galatians 1:6-8.

3) What the ultimate object of this book concerns is its
self-condemnation. The reprobate Jewish people are supposed to
receive mercy once more and become part of the Church of Christ,
and the Gentiles likewise are to be grafted into the true
church. There are teachings which we have in the true Bible and
we need no new Bible in addition. Such superfluous revelations
conflict with the wisdom of God which has done nothing
unnecessary. In all of His ways there has been the grandest
design which has been achieved by the shortest means.

4) The effects of this book already extend upon members of
various Christian persuasions. Some members of the Lutheran,
Reformed, Presbyterian, and Baptist congregations have given
this book their approval, have been baptized by immersion, and
formed their own sect. Because they baptize by immersion they
are winning over many members of the Baptist Church (including
General as well as Particular Baptists), first because of their
teachings about the universal grace of God and lastly because of
their agreement in attitude toward the proper subject of holy
baptism.

This upstart sect calls itself the True Followers of
Christ; however, because they believe in the Book of Mormon,
they bear the name Mormonites. For the past several Sundays
many people of both sexes have been immersed by them, and so
many during the week that their numbers in the region hereabouts
may amount to at least 100 persons. They have their own
preachers whom I know, Oliver Cowdery by description and David
Whitmer (the so-called angel-viewer) personally. Their sect,
however, numbers still other preachers, unknown to me. The Book
of Mormon, from which they all preach every Sunday, must be
regarded by the converts as not only a symbolic book but even
more as a second Bible to be used for godly instruction. Most
of their present adherents were apparently General Baptists.

By itself this new sect may not astound the Christian
Church. Past centuries have also had their religious
monstrosities, but where are they now? Where are the sects of
Nicolaites, Ebionites, Nasoreans, Montanites, Paulicians, and
such others, which the Christian churches call fables. They
have dissolved into the ocean of the past and have been given
the stamp of oblivion. The Mormonites, and hopefully soon, will
also share that fate. Most of their preachers have gone to
Pennsylvania in order to make converts to their doctrines and
also to carry a quantity of books to sell.

And so I am, your brother, commissioned by the Zion
Congregation, imploring you to warn with the utmost urgency the
residents of the Union, wherever our Magazine of the Reformed
Church is read, against these new doctrines and against the
purchase of these books.

In conclusion I will add the testimony of these unbelieving
and godless men:

The Testimony of Three Witnesses

Be it known unto all nations, kindreds, tongues and people,
unto whom this work shall come, that we, through the grace of
God the Father, and; our Lord Jesus Christ have seen the plates
which contain this record, which is a record of the people of
Nephi, and also of the Lamanites, his brethren and also a record
of the people of Jared which came from the tower, of which has
been spoken, and we also know that they have been translated by
the gift and power of God, for his voice has declared it unto
us, wherefore we know of a surety that the work is true, and we
also testify that we have seen the engravings which are upon the
plates, and they have been shewn unto us by the power of God,
and not of man, and we declare with words of soberness, that an
angel of God came down from heaven, and he brought and laid
before our eyes, that we beheld and saw the plates, and the
engravings thereon and we know that it is by the grace of God
the Father, and our Lord Jesus Christ, that we beheld and bear
record that these things are true; and it is marvellous in our
eyes. Nevertheless the voice of the Lord commanded us, that we
should bear record of it; wherefore to be obedient of God, we
bear testimony of these things, and we know that if we are
faithful in Christ, we shall rid our garments of the blood of
all men, and be found spotless before the judgment seat of
Christ, and shall dwell with him eternally in the heavens, and
the honor be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy
Ghost, which is one God. Amen.

(signed) Oliver Cowdery, David Whitmer, Martin Harris.

And Also the Testimony of Eight Witnesses.

Be it known unto all nations, kindreds, tongues and people,
unto whom this work shall come that Joseph Smith, Jr., the
author and proprietor of this work, has shewn unto us the plates
of which has been spoken, which have the appearance of gold; and
as many of the leaves as the said Smith has translated, we did
handle with our hands; and we also saw the engravings thereon,
all of which has the appearance of ancient work and of curious
workmanship and this we bear record, with words of soberness,
that the said Smith has shewn unto us, for we have seen and
hefted, and know of a surety that the said Smith has got the
plates of which we have spoken, and we give our names unto the
world to witness unto the world that which we have seen: and we
lie not, God bearing witness of it.--Christian Whitmer, Jacob
W., Peter W., Jr., John W., Hiram Page, Joseph Smith, Sen.,
Hyrum Smith, Samuel H. Smith.

I am acquainted with the Whitmers. During the past nine
years, they were followers of the Methodists, Reformers,
Presbyterians, Mennonites, and Baptists, and are unstable,
spineless men; moreover, they are gullible to the highest degree
and even believe in witches. Hiram Page is likewise full of
superstition, and the Smiths are probably the close relations of
Joseph Smith, Jr., author of the Book of Mormon.